The thing is, both are true. According to the National Scorecard on Rates of Hospital-Acquired Conditions 2010 to 2015, Hospital-Acquired Conditions (HACs) have shown a 21 percent decrease across that time span. And yet every year when CMS releases the list of hospitals penalized for their HAC scores, we see that there are still many hospitals across the country still struggling with controlling their HACs.

How does the HAC reduction program work?

The acronym HAC – Hospital-Acquired Condition – makes the definition pretty clear; HACs are conditions that a patient acquired while receiving care for another condition while in your hospital.

The HAC reduction program started with fiscal year (FY) 2015. Since that time, hospitals that are the worst performers receive a 1 percent reduction to their Medicare reimbursement funding. Worst performers are those hospitals in the top 25 percent of HAC incidences. HAC scores are based on data from two years prior.

HAC Measures

There are 14 HACs which include incidences like pressure ulcers, falls, infections and sepsis. (Full list) These measures are used to calculate a hospital’s total HAC score. Each measure is worth between 1 and 10 points.

Which states have the worst performance?

For FY 2017, 769 of the 3,313 eligible hospitals were penalized for being in the top 25 percent of the worst performers.

Let’s take a look at the worst performers by state for FY 2017.

In the information below we looked at only those hospitals who were penalized by CMS.

Worst average score by state.

1. Vermont(With an average score of 9.28)2. Kansas(With an average score of 8.32)3. Mississippi(With an average score of 8.31)4. Utah(With an average score of 7.90)5. Oregon(With an average score of 7.90)6. Arizona(With an average score of 7.86)7. Connecticut (With an average score of 7.86)8. Wisconsin (With an average score of 7.83)9. Indiana(With an average score of 7.82)10. Nevada(With an average score of 7.81)

Now let’s take a look at the states that have the most hospitals who received a penalty in FY 2017.

Most hospitals penalized by state.

1. California: 96 hospitals (With an average score of 7.43)2. New York: 66 hospitals (With an average score of 7.5)3. Texas: 61 hospitals (With an average score of 7.73)4. Florida: 41 hospitals (With an average score of 7.6)5. Pennsylvania: 39 hospitals (With an average score of 7.49)6. Georgia: 31 hospitals (With an average score of 7.57)7. Illinois: 28 hospitals (With an average score of 7.6)8. Michigan: 27 hospitals (With an average score of 7.43)9. New Jersey: 26 hospitals (With an average score of 7.42)10. Louisiana: 22 hospitals (With an average score of 7.68)

The Medisolv difference

By comparison, those eligible hospitals that are Medisolv clients average a total HAC score of only 4.94. Medisolv works with each hospital to improve the performance of their quality measures including HAC performance. Learn how you can take your first step toward quality improvement by contacting us today.

On-Demand Webinar: How To Submit 2017 ECQM Data To CMS And The Joint Commission

Report your 2017 eCQM data on time

Held on: December 2017

In this free educational webinar, we review the eCQM submission process for both The Joint Commission and CMS. You’ll learn how to submit, and also how to use the process to improve your Quality measure performance over time.

In this webinar, you’ll learn:

How to submit eCQMs to CMS.

How the process of eCQM submission differs from The Joint Commission.

eCQM Requirements for CMS and The Joint Commission.

Tips for using eCQM submissions as a way of validating your Quality data.